Love seeing everyone celebrating accomplishments large and small in this thread! Congrats on the wins, everyone!

Yesterday, I completed my first ever woodworking project! It's a basic storage box, it's not pretty and IT'S ALL MINE!! It's the start to what I hope to be a future of making many more functional items.

WOW! These are so impressive! Mine is not as impressive but I am still proud.

I have saved my first $20k for retirement! And I have no debt!

I started out two years ago 18K in the hole. In the two years I have been working, I made about 75K total. I have close to a 45% savings rate. This from the power of saving automation. Now I just need to starve off life style inflation.

WOW! These are so impressive! Mine is not as impressive but I am still proud.

I have saved my first $20k for retirement! And I have no debt!

I started out two years ago 18K in the hole. In the two years I have been working, I made about 75K total. I have close to a 45% savings rate. This from the power of saving automation. Now I just need to starve off life style inflation.

Actually, this is MORE impressive than what most of us have recently accomplished.

Why do I say that?

Because it's not easy to totally change your lifestyle, mindset, and learn all that you need to do in order to turn things around. Plus, you've got compound interest working AGAINST you not for you.

Most of us have been there, we know what you've done is the hardest step.

WOW! These are so impressive! Mine is not as impressive but I am still proud.

I have saved my first $20k for retirement! And I have no debt!

I started out two years ago 18K in the hole. In the two years I have been working, I made about 75K total. I have close to a 45% savings rate. This from the power of saving automation. Now I just need to starve off life style inflation.

Actually, this is MORE impressive than what most of us have recently accomplished.

Why do I say that?

Because it's not easy to totally change your lifestyle, mindset, and learn all that you need to do in order to turn things around. Plus, you've got compound interest working AGAINST you not for you.

Most of us have been there, we know what you've done is the hardest step.

+1. The hardest part is behind you. Great job @JCGreen! Keep up the great work.

WOW! These are so impressive! Mine is not as impressive but I am still proud.

I have saved my first $20k for retirement! And I have no debt!

I started out two years ago 18K in the hole. In the two years I have been working, I made about 75K total. I have close to a 45% savings rate. This from the power of saving automation. Now I just need to starve off life style inflation.

Actually, this is MORE impressive than what most of us have recently accomplished.

Why do I say that?

Because it's not easy to totally change your lifestyle, mindset, and learn all that you need to do in order to turn things around. Plus, you've got compound interest working AGAINST you not for you.

Most of us have been there, we know what you've done is the hardest step.

+1. The hardest part is behind you. Great job @JCGreen! Keep up the great work.

Agreed, it will really only get easier. getting to the positive side is the hardest part. Congrats!

WOW! These are so impressive! Mine is not as impressive but I am still proud.

I have saved my first $20k for retirement! And I have no debt!

I started out two years ago 18K in the hole. In the two years I have been working, I made about 75K total. I have close to a 45% savings rate. This from the power of saving automation. Now I just need to starve off life style inflation.

I recently asked for and received a 25% raise from one of my main clients (I'm a freelance writer). From $60 to $75 an hour! I will be negotiating with other clients as well, targeting 15-35% increases (each client has a somewhat different rate structure).

I recently asked for and received a 25% raise from one of my main clients (I'm a freelance writer). From $60 to $75 an hour! I will be negotiating with other clients as well, targeting 15-35% increases (each client has a somewhat different rate structure).

Sorry for being a little late, but congrats. I got a small raise recently, too, and it's great, isn't it?

Mini celebration; Student loans gone!I had been holding on to them because they were subsidized during my PhD and then the rates were so low (sub 2%) until the Fed started raising rates. BUt they just broached 4% and by all accounts are heading higher so I sold some shares that I had put aside for that purpose and nixed them.

Honestly I'm of mixed feelings on this - sad to see my investment account drop by $17k but nice to have that monthly payment eliminated. It probably would have been smarter to keep them for another 9 months but the cash was there and now its done and there's no reason to look back.

I am so so so happy. The county did a "group buy" deal, so while we didn't DIY, we got a discount on the panels and an industrial rate on the install. I am so glad my frugalness has allowed me to splurge on something like this. The people doing the program said we were one of the few people who didn't also do the paperwork for a loan. My neighbors (all with so many fancy things that it is tough to not want to keep up with the Jones's) all declined to join the program because those who looked into it said it was "way too expensive". We have a 5 year payback period on it. For things that I can spend my money on, clean energy seems like a great one!

The treehugger in me just can't stop smiling.The spendy-pants in me is thinking "hmmm...now I could get the Leaf..." (But that's not going to happen...)

Mini celebration; Student loans gone!I had been holding on to them because they were subsidized during my PhD and then the rates were so low (sub 2%) until the Fed started raising rates. BUt they just broached 4% and by all accounts are heading higher so I sold some shares that I had put aside for that purpose and nixed them.

Honestly I'm of mixed feelings on this - sad to see my investment account drop by $17k but nice to have that monthly payment eliminated. It probably would have been smarter to keep them for another 9 months but the cash was there and now its done and there's no reason to look back.

Awesome. We are stuck renting for the foreseeable future, so we haven't been able to install solar like we'd really like. Pity, because right now the incentives in my state are pretty favorable, but set to expire.Glad you are doing it!

Someone suggested that I might want to share the following here, especially since I can't share it with off-line friends:

As of yesterday, husband and I have paid off just over $10,000 of home improvement/auto loan and credit card debt since last November. We have $2500 left on the low-interest auto loan, and then we'll just have the mortgage (~$56,000).

This seems unreal. I was raised to assume that people always had debt. Several of my good friends currently have scary debt. It's so freeing to learn that "normal" doesn't mean "good" or "inevitable."

Someone suggested that I might want to share the following here, especially since I can't share it with off-line friends:

As of yesterday, husband and I have paid off just over $10,000 of home improvement/auto loan and credit card debt since last November. We have $2500 left on the low-interest auto loan, and then we'll just have the mortgage (~$56,000).

This seems unreal. I was raised to assume that people always had debt. Several of my good friends currently have scary debt. It's so freeing to learn that "normal" doesn't mean "good" or "inevitable."

Someone suggested that I might want to share the following here, especially since I can't share it with off-line friends:

As of yesterday, husband and I have paid off just over $10,000 of home improvement/auto loan and credit card debt since last November. We have $2500 left on the low-interest auto loan, and then we'll just have the mortgage (~$56,000).

This seems unreal. I was raised to assume that people always had debt. Several of my good friends currently have scary debt. It's so freeing to learn that "normal" doesn't mean "good" or "inevitable."

I've been an MMM poster for a year now and I wanted to share my experience with anyone who's interested in this type of thing. This is a celebration of both my wake-up call and the support I've received from you all (especially the race to 10k thread).

A year ago I'd just got back from Vegas for my sisters wedding. In a place where money is thrown around like it means nothing, it couldn't have meant more to me. You see, I'd just returned my expensive, flashy car at work. I was paying over £500 per month to drive the thing. It went back the day before I'd left. I had a burning hole in my pocket. A new car meant a new insurance policy, a deposit. I knew my friends were speculating as to why I'd gone from a top spec Audi to a basic V/W without a bell or whistle in sight. I felt embarrassed.

Worse than this, I had no savings, no investments. I received my pay cheque and it would be gone, with nothing to show before the next. I wasn't necessarily stupid with money (other than the car, face punches are welcome on that one). I'd saved over £20k by the time I was 21. I'd invested it into a property with my childhood sweetheart. The equity we've built in the property in the past 2 and a half years was more than I earned in a year! But that doesn't help you when you have what seems like a mountain of debt snowballing in your bank account. No, I wasn't stupid, I just wanted to live like all my friends did, who earn good money but live at home with mum and dad. I had no other choice than to rack up a few thousand £'s worth of debt on my credit card. The 17.99% interest rate was nothing compared to the shame associated to asking my family for a loan.

I knew it was a ridiculous position to be in. I wasn't' earning bad money, my girlfriend had a brilliant job! The only thing preventing us from financial security was ourselves. I used excuses like 'well we had to go to Vegas, it was my sister's wedding!!' 'I have to stay at Caesar's so I'm around my family, the cheaper hotels are too far away!'. Another great one was 'Yeah the car is expensive, but when you're driving a 700 mile round trip for work it's important to be in something comfortable'. Myself and my S/O had serious arguments about money. I flat out refused to ask family for help. My pride wouldn't allow it. I clung on to a persona of a young man who'd done well for himself. I wanted people to perceive I was wealthy and doing better than my school friends. My favourite compliment was 'How on earth can you afford that car at your age'. The truth was that I couldn't.

I signed up to this forum and decided to make a change.

I started posting in the race to 10k thread. It seemed like a good place to start. My goal was to graduate by December 2018. I immediately cut back on some luxuries, we started buying own-brand foods, less nights out, no new clothes and we saw the benefits quite quickly. I was out of debt by December! I'd even found an old pension pot I'd contributed too whilst working a part time job when I was younger (see, I'm not that stupid with money). However the major issue was that I had no savings. I knew if SHTF I'd have to rack up credit card debt again and the cycle would re-start. A week before Christmas my girlfriend received a call, she'd been made redundant with no severance package. She loved the job, it felt like a real kick in the teeth and we'd been put on the back foot.

She immediately sought new work, but it took time. Over 4 months in total. She's a very strong person, but she'd had a bereavement just before Christmas as and combined with a medical issue she had a really tough start to 2018. Thankfully she'd managed to save a bit prior to being made redundant. My N/W stagnated. It's so frustrating to feel like you're living frugally, but not see the benefit. I just kept on telling myself that I'm in a better position than I would have been had I not started this.

I drifted behind my targets. The thought of graduating that 10k thread by December 2018 was fading, fast. We got to April and BANG, everything changed. My S/O received a job offer paying good money, the hard work I'd put in at work paid off and I got a pay rise + a new pension contribution scheme. My first thought was to get to 3 months worth of living expenses saved. I'd done that by June.

This past year my N/W has increased by £9,483. I have £0 owed on credit cards. My pension is 6 times the size it was this time last year. I've started a side hustle that's generated over £1k already. If SHTF today, I'd have over 6 months worth of money to live on.

I can't stress how different I feel today compared to last September. I truly know that driving a nice car and wearing nice clothes offers no form of happiness. It offers an ego boost that only the insecure rely on. I know most of the people reading this will look at my £8k N/W and laugh, some of you have probably earnt that in the last week alone, but that £8k was unimaginable a year ago. The support and focus I've received from this forum has been fundamental to reaching that. I can assure you all that I WILL hit £10k by December. From there, who knows.

That financial worry in September 2017 was worth every penny. It's led me here and from here I've learnt that I can buy happiness, just not in the same way that most people think.

In less exciting news, we were able to make the largest student loan payment-to-date to the tune of almost $5k. And DH just got a raise and bonus that pull our projected payoff date up by 1-2 months next year, pending how a few other things shake out. Pretty exciting stuff :)

In less exciting news, we were able to make the largest student loan payment-to-date to the tune of almost $5k. And DH just got a raise and bonus that pull our projected payoff date up by 1-2 months next year, pending how a few other things shake out. Pretty exciting stuff :)

Congrats. You've got a little snowball rolling, and it just gets bigger from there.

I got to be a teacher's assistant for a workshop at a major arts & crafts school for a week. Not only did I have a great time, I learned a bunch too.

I've made more enameled pieces in the last month than I've made in the last 7 years. Close to a hundred are done already and another 135 are 2/3rds done. They are all simple color samples, but they still completed pieces. Doing all this practice is dramatically improving my technical skill level. I'm really excited!

I started renting a room in my townhome. Was not very optimistic thinking if people would really want to rent in that area. But did put an ad though. Ten days after, got my first tenant/roommate. He seems to be a good & genuine person. Renting that room for $500 and utilities.

After setting some ambitious savings and NW goals this year, I was lucky enough to find a second job that worked well with my skillset/hours etc. I'm pretty tired at times but loving the chance to stash away cash and inch that freedom date closer!

I've saved every dollar I've made from my second job, to build a decent emergency fund. This week I passed the $5000 mark! My plan is to get it to $10k (hopefully by the end of the year). If I'm lucky the job will continue into 2019+, and i can use future earnings to boost my investments by $10k+ a year!

Earlier this year I decided to apply to a new Project at work, I got the job, and even though it is a lateral move, i received a 10.7% raise. That is the highest i have ever gotten, and it puts me just under my salary goal i wanted to reach by 30, i am 27. Also, the salary put me at my Megacorps reported 'Med' salary for my job type, this is the first time that has happened, which melted away my feelings of being underpaid for the same work.